Deere & Company (NYSE:DE ) early Friday [Feb 17, 2017 | 6:50am] posted market-beating earnings results and lifted its 2017 outlook, noting that agriculture markets may finally be stabilizing.

Written by StockNews.com

The Moline, IL-based farming and construction equipment maker reported Q1 earnings per share (EPS) of $0.61, which was $0.07 better than the Wall Street consensus estimate of $0.54. Revenues fell 1.5% from last year to $4.7 billion, also topping analysts’ $4.59 billion view.

Deere noted that the latest quarterly results included price realization of 2%, as well as favorable currency-translation effects of 1%.

The company’s equipment net sales in the United States and Canada fell 8% in the period, while outside the U.S. and Canada, net sales jumped 11%.

Looking ahead, Deere forecast Q2 revenues up 1% from the year-ago period to approximately $7.18 billion, well ahead of Wall Street’s current outlook of $6.89 billion. For the full year 2017, DE lifted its revenue outlook substantially. It now expects 4% revenue growth to around $24.32 billion, up from a prior 1% estimate. Analysts are looking for lower sales of $23.12 billion of the year.

The company commented via press release:

“Although the quarter’s sales and earnings were somewhat lower than last year, all of our businesses remained solidly profitable. Deere’s performance showed further benefits from the sound execution of its operating plans, the strength of a broad product portfolio and the impact of a more flexible cost structure. At the same time, we are seeing signs that after several years of steep declines key agricultural markets may be stabilizing.”

Deere & Company shares rose $1.78 (+1.63%) in premarket trading Friday. Year-to-date, DE had gained 5.95% prior to today’s report, versus a 5.01% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

DE currently has a StockNews.com POWR Rating of A (Strong Buy), and is ranked #5 of 58 stocks in the Industrial – Machinery category.